> burnt out over the years and their extra hours made no difference because the business success was determine by something outside their control. If you're an

> burnt out over the years and their extra hours made no difference because the business success was determine by something outside their control. If you're answering in this way, maybe other posters also interpret my post as "advice" or "prescription" that you must work 80 hours a week to be successful. That's not what my downvoted post was about. Instead, it was an observation of founder psychology that the questioner may not be aware of. I'm saying that there's a species of entrepreneur where there is no dichotomy of "work" vs "life". Their work is life. If the founder has that mentality, there is no "life to give up" and therefore, the OP's question is nonsensical to them. That type of crazy passion is in the peer group of entrepreneurs. That's the competition.